• Kirinyaga spent Sh2.46 billion, an equivalent of 45 per cent of total revenue of Sh5.48 billion collected during the 2017-18, on salaries.
• Waiguru said her administration inherited a bloated workforce from the previous administration.
Image: FILE
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has blamed the ballooning county wage bill on the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
Waiguru on Wednesday told the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee that the high expenditure on staff emoluments was a result of pay rise to all civil servants effected by the commission in 2017.
Kirinyaga's wage bill exceeds the set limit of 35 per cent of a devolved unit’s total revenue.
The governor said the administration inherited a bloated workforce from the previous administration.
“Health workers were awarded a raise in their allowances in addition to the SRC general pay rise. The allowances significantly increased health workers pay by an average of Sh100,000 per month per employee,” she told the committee chaired by Kisii Senator Sam Ongeri.
Waiguru had been put to task over the 45 per cent of the county’s total revenue spent on staff salaries contrary to the provisions of Public Finance Management Act (County Governments) Regulations, 2015 which set ceiling on wages at 35 per cent of a county's total revenue.
A report by former Auditor General Edward Ouko shows that Kirinyaga spent Sh2.46 billion, equivalent of 45 per cent of total revenue of Sh5.48 billion collected during the 2017-18.
Ongeri said county governments have to find a way of ratonalising salaries to mitigate the issue of high wage bill.
“The issue of high wage bill is a recurring situation in all counties. We need to look at it more seriously for mitigation measures, be it rationalisations of salaries. Otherwise the law is there and you have to abide by it,” he said.
Waiguru said her administration was already implementing a raft of measures to contain the ballooning wage bill, including freezing staff recruitment.
“There has been no significant increase in allocation of funding from the national government to mitigate this rise. However, the county has put measures in place to mitigate this by freezing all recruitment except for very critical positions,” she said.
She was also questioned over her administration’s Sh10 million contribution to the Council of Governors.
County governments make annual contributions to the CoG for rent, salaries and other general expenses. However, the contributions have no backing of the law, making it a recurrent audit query.
Waiguru said the council was not fully funded by the National Treasury, forcing the counties to make the additional funding to ensure its smooth operations.
“An agreement was reached by all governors to be contributing towards the operation of the council’s secretariat,” she said.
“Counties transfer funds based on agreed annual subscription amounts. The council secretariat acknowledges receipt of the funds and accounts for funds utilised accordingly.”
Governors recently pushed for a provision to have the CoG secretariat anchored in the Intergovernmental Relations Act included in the final Building Bridges Initiative report.
The committee said it will call a meeting with the Controller of Budget, the Attorney General and the Auditor General over the matter.